Shutter control for vehicles



1. W.- APPL'IN AND H. L. WAsoN. SHUTTE CONTROL FOR-VEH|CLES 'APPLICATN FILED JULYZG, 1.920.

Patented Apr. E922.,

2 SHEETS-SHEET v.

JJ W'. APPLIN AND H. L. WATSON.

"SHUTTER coNrRoL FOR VEHICLES. l APPLICATION FILEDJULY26, 1920. 1,412,822., A Patented Apr. 389 19212.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

4 INVENTORS. Jai/m M ,4l/nml Mael/fr l, W4/'50M nNTTan sTaTns PATENT @FFHQEO `'l'QEEBT APPLlN AND HARVEY L. WATSON, 0F NDIIANAPOJLIS, NDMNA, SSIGNGRS T@ LA FAYETTE MUTORS COMPANY, 0F INDIANAPOLXS, EENDEANA.

SHUTTER GO'NTRUL FOR VEHICLES.

latitanza To all wkomvit may concern.'

'Be it known that we,-JoHN WV. APPLIN and HARVEY L. VVATsoN, citizens of the,

United States', and residents of Indianapolis,

county of Marion, and State of lndiana, have invented a certain, new 'and'useful Shutter Control for Vehicles; and we do s hereby'declare .that the` following is a` full,

clear, and exact description thereof, refer-v ence being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

' This invention relates to automatic means for regulating shutter means associated with the radiatorof a waer cooling system for internal combustion engines.

'llhe chief object of the invention is to pro vide a controlling mechanism for the shutter construction whereby the same will' be actuated by thermal operated means associate-d with the cooling system so' that the temperature of the cooling system may be automatically maintained at 'any predetermined temperature. l 'l rlhe chief feature of the invention con sists in adapting a thermally operated means' controlled by the temperature of the water .coolingsystem, a shutter construction associated withthe radiator of the'lwater cooling system, and positioning the actuating or power means connected with the shutter within the cowl portion of the motor vehicle.

Another feature of the invention is in the specific. meansfor controllinguthe shutter,

whereby the same is automatically operated to the desired degree.

nother feature ofthe invention consists in associating with the specific shutter ac-I tuating means, suitable meansformaintainingthe shutters in closed vposition during understood from the accompanying draw ings and vthe following description and claims.

lln'the drawings Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view of the forward portion of themotor vehicle .including the cowl, hood, radiator, shutters and controlling mechanism t"sitioned upon and the shutters.

ing. liquid fallsA below the Apredetermined Specification of Letters Patent. )Patent/@d1 App() 139 119220 .application filed :my 2e, i920. v'serial no; 398,922'. i

associated therewith. Fig. k2 is a similar view of the motor vehicle and actuating means showingl the parts in the position when the radiator shutters are in open position, while Fig. 1 illustrates the same parts in the closed position. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the shutter actuating means associated with the motor means, vparts being broken away to show vother parts in detail. The parts in Fig. '3 are shown in the shutter closed position. Fig. l is a plan view of theshutter actuating 4means shown in F 3 and shows said parts in the full open shutter position. ,Y

ln the drawings. 10 indicates the radiator of `a motor vehicle, 11 the usual radiator shell, 12 the water from the radiator 'and t rough said shell, 13

wardly of the hood andl thel instrument board associated therewith.. ln thepresent instance the shutter actuating means is;p`o v the dash or partition wall 16 and beneath the cowl, and suitable connections extend from said cowl to the radiator As shown clearly in Fig. 1, 17 illustrates a reservoir for an eXpansible fluid 'such as mercury or the like which is expansible un.- der heatwwhich heat is derived from `the water cooling system of the motor vehicle or the'radiator thereof. Suitable .flexible tub'- ing or conduit means' 18 connects said heat eXpansible liquid reservoir withjthe Ashutter actuatingA means 19 positioned upon the partition wall 16. .y y

As shown clearly in Figs.- 1 and 2 the shutter actuating means 19'inc`ludes a housing portion secured tothe wall 16. 'Within the housing 19 is secured a compressi'ble or collapsible wall 20, said wall being substantially circular in form, one end thereof being' closed by the plate 21 vand the other end by the plate 22. The plate-21 is stationary and -is provided with an opening lcommunicating with a flexiblev tubing 18 whereby the chamber 23 acts as a cylinder and the plate 22 acts as a.piston, said plate 22 moving from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2 under the influence of the eXpansible liquid` or Huid in the reservoir 17, tube 18 and'chamber 23. The plate 22 is `provided witha recess 24C in which is seatable a cupped plate 25 to which is secured a piston rod 26, said rod extending cap projecting upwardly Q i .y A terasse portion 121 upon the bushing 120 adjustably secures the plate 27 Within the housing. Between the-.vvasher 27 and the plate 25 is positioned a coiled compression spring 28 Which tends t o maintain the piston plate or Wall 22 inI the closed position, as illustrated in Fig. '1.- 'When the expansible fluid eX- pands, under the influence of the rising temperature of the cooling system, said fluid causes said plate 22 or piston'member to move from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2 in opposition to the spring 28, thereby moving the piston rod 26 from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2. l

The means for transmitting the reciprocating motion of the piston rod 26 to the shutter construction comprises the lever 30 pivoted intermediate its ends at 31 tothe `piston rod '26 and pivotally supported at one end 32 by means of a pivotally supported link 33, which link is supported at 34 upon the housing 19. The otherend of the pivotally supported link 30 is secured to a reciprocating rod 35 which rod actuates the shutters through means hereinafter to be described, said rod extendin through the partition 16 `and being suita ly` supported. Associated With the actuating rod-35 is a cbnnecting rod 36, the same being supported in the bracket 37 upon the vehicle and being connected to the rod,35 by means of the union or /coupling 38. The other end of the rod 36 is secured vto one end of a bell crank lever 40, said lever being pivoted at 41. The portion 40 of the bell crank lever iscurved, as shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 4, so that it is adapted to be positioned adjacent the water cup 12. The other end 42 of the bell crank lever is secured to one end 0f the spring member 43, the other end of which is adjustably supported by means of the bolt means 44 and lnut means 45 in the bracket 46. rlhe spring member 43 normally tends to maintain the lever 40 in the 'position shown in Fig. 3, said lever being movable to the position shown in Fig. 4 in oppositionvto the tension o f the spring 43 by means of the rod k35 actuated by the, expansion of the expansible fluid inthe chamber 23.

The means for transmitting to the shutters the rockingmotion of the pivot 41, which may be vin the form of a stub shaft, or said lever 4Q may be otherwise conne'ted to the lever means 47, in the present instance comprises a single lever member pivoted intermediate its ends, one end 48 of which is connected by means of the actuating rod 49 to one set ofshutters, While the op.-

posite end 50 is connected to another actuati ing rod 51 which lis connected Ato anotherv set of shutters.

1n the invention illustrated the shutters 52 are pivotally supported at one edge 53 .and are provided with actuating ears 54,

57. Temperature adjustment can also beY obtained by the spring 57 since said spring has its free end 'bearing `against a bracket 58 carried 'by the bar 55,' While said bracket 58 is slotted to receive the free end of the rod 51 or 49 which extends therethrough and is threaded to receive the adjusting and lockin ends 59.

u ith the foregoing construction it will be understood that after the-rod 36 is moved from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position Shown in Fig. 4 the -bar members 55, of Which in the present instance there are tvvo, are moved from the position shown in Fig. 3, which is the closed position, to the position shown in Fig. 4, and as shown in' said*l figure said rods .abut each other when the shutters'are in the open position, thus preventing further movement of the actuating means.

The dual construction-associated with the actuating means is assisted in the present instance by the pivoting of the shutters associated with the radiator shell, whereby the shutters positioned upony the right half of the shell are pivoted .at one vertical edgey that as thetemperature of the cooling liquid l in the radiator rises, and the temperature of the expansible fluid in the'reservoir 17 also rises and said fluid expands, thereby moving the piston rod 26 from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2 or to a position intermediate thereof.

The actuating or critical temperature is.

regulated by the tension of the spring 28. The piston through the pivoted lever 30 and the reciprocating rod 35 transmits said movement through the bell crank lever 40, which in` turnactuates the lever means 47 to reciprocate simultaneously the shutter actuating bars 55 as hereinbefore described. The arrmunt'of actuation `depends upon the amount of movement imparted to the piston rod 26 and, therefore, the degree of expannation withy a plurality of pivotally sup-..-,

ported shutters, and reciprocating bar means connected to each shutter for actuating the same, of means for reciprocating said bar means including alever, link means connecting said lever to said bar means, means for ,adjusting the length of said link means, yielding means for maintaining said lever and Shutters in the closed position, means for rocking said lever in opposition to said maintaining means to open said shutters7 and means for adjusting the tension of the yielding maintaining means. A

2. In a shutter construction the combination of a plurality ofo'ppositely positioned shutters, a plurality of bar means for operating the oppositely positioned shutters, lever'means associated With each bar means, a rock shaft for tilting said lever means, and rod and lever means for rocking said shaft.

3. In a shutter constructionthe combination of a plurality of oppositely positionedV shutters, a plurality of bar means for operating the oppositely positioned shutters, lever means associated with each har means, a rock shaft for tilting said lever means, a bell crank for rocking said shaft, a reciprocating rod for one end of the bell crank to open said shutters, and means connected to the other end of said bell crank to close said shutters.

4. In a shutter construction the combination of a plurality of oppositely positioned shutters, a plurality of bar means for oper ating the oppositely positioned shutters, lever means associated with each har means,

a rock shaft shaft for tilting said lever means, a bell crank for rocking said shaft, a reciprocating rod for one end of the bell crank to open said shutters, and yielding means connected to the other end of said bell crank to maintain said shutters in closed position.

In witnessl whereof we have hereunto affixed our signatures.

JOHN W. APPLIN. HARVEY L. WATSON. 

